CROP Students Visit SCF to Sharpen Science Skills

(Bradenton, Fla., Feb. 22, 2018) — Nearly 40 students from the College Reach-Out Program
(CROP) in Manatee and Sarasota counties visited State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota
(SCF) last month to learn investigative techniques and work with DNA material in the
biotech labs at the College. The visit was part of the CROP program’s mission to introduce
Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) to middle and high school students
and to make the subject matter accessible.

In a survey after the program all 39 students who participated said they enjoyed the
workshop and that it was a positive learning experience. Nearly half indicated they
are interested in finding out more about pursuing a career in science.

Three of the CROP students interviewed said that participating in the biotech workshop
made them realize that they could work in a lab successfully with the right training
and mechanics. They thought the instructors were thorough and the explanations were
easy to grasp because of the way the class was set up.

Dylan Alvarez, a student at Palmetto High School who plans to get an associate degree
at SCF and then transfer to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University to study aviation,
liked how the faculty from SCF combined the lab with the instruction on DNA and investigative
techniques.

“The techniques are simple in nature as long as you have the mechanics,” said Brandon
Amspaugh, a Bayshore student who said the instruction at SCF was key to making it
understandable. “You could take anybody and have them do a lab successfully if they
want to do it.”

Daniel Haley said opportunities through the CROP program have helped him decide what
he wants to do when he graduates. Haley, a junior at Bayshore, is already taking classes
at SCF as an accelerated dual enrollment student and once he gets his high school
diploma and his degree from SCF, he plans to transfer to Florida State University
to study mechanical engineering.

Most of the students who visited SCF’s science department last month had never been
in a biotech lab and were not familiar with the techniques but were able to quickly
grasp how to use the tools and how to run an experiment. In a survey one student called
the visit “one of the best activities CROP has done so far.” Several indicated they
enjoyed working in the lab and being on campus. Most said that they are more motivated
to go to college after having participated in the experience.

For more information, contact Kristen L. Anderson, program director of special programs,
at AnderskL@SCF.edu or 941-752-5257.

From left: Daniel Haley works with Adrian Ramirez in SCF’s biotech lab. Both are
Bayshore High school students.